More Able Pupils

What can we offer schools that will help them to get the best from the ablest pupils?

One of the most difficult aspects of prompting the achievement of the ablest pupils is being able to identify who they are. There are national definitions, from the DfE and Ofsted. However, with our better understanding of intelligence, we now know that this is not 'fixed'. In other words, many more pupils could be achieving at a high level than is currently the case. How do we get to the cognitive development of pupils? More importantly, how do we identify those pupils who have the potential for high achievement? In addition, there are groups, such as the ablest disadvantaged and EAL pupils, where locked potential is just waiting to be unlocked with the right teaching and resources.

We can offer support and training to help schools enable more pupils to achieve at high levels. The following are some examples of what we offer:

n Growth mindset training

n Assessing cognitive development and finding the potential for growth

n Training on Higher Order thinking Skills

n Support and training to develop a curriculum for high achievement for all

n Review and evaluation of current provision to identify how it can be improved

n Supporting school self-evaluation

n Developing resources to support high achievement

n Training on teaching and learning techniques that work with more able pupils

n Developing teachers' knowledge and understanding of what A/A* and grade 9 work looks like

n Developing a strong and challenging curriculum for Key Stage 3

n Writing across the curriculum in primary schools that helps pupils to develop and demonstrate higher order thinking skills.

Useful websites:

1. https://www.iggy.net/

This is a web-site run by Warwick University and it aims to connect and challenge 'the world's brightest young minds.'

2. http://www.thebrilliantclub.org/

The Brilliant Club is an award-winning charity that works to increase the number of pupils from under-represented groups to highly selective universities by mobilising the PhD community to share is expertise with state schools.